Unraveling the mentor-mentee knot in entrepreneurship: narcissism, emotional intelligence, and dyadic configurations

Abstract This study examines how narcissism, a common personality trait among entrepreneurs, interacts with emotional intelligence in mentoring relationships to facilitate learning outcomes for mentees. Focusing on three emotional intelligence components (self-emotion appraisal, others? emotion appraisal, and emotion regulation), data from 127 entrepreneurial mentoring dyads were analyzed. Necessary Condition Analysis revealed that for medium learning, only others? emotion appraisal, trust, and mentor functions were necessary conditions, while self-emotion appraisal and emotion regulation were necessary for the highest learning levels. Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis identified three configurations for high mentee learning: two highlighting the importance of mentors? emotional intelligence when highly narcissistic, and one emphasizing some mentor emotional intelligence components when low in narcissism but tolerating the absence of others? emotional appraisal. Findings underscore beneficial personality configurations in entrepreneurial mentoring, guiding strategically pairing mentors and mentees based on their characteristics.